Handpicked wines, whiskys, and local beverages. All affordable and unique.

DrinksNC is Leeuwarden's (Holland) best-known brand of alcoholic beverages. The company is loved by consumers and recognized for its dedication to handpicking quality, tasty and unique products. The company offers a wide variety of authentic French and Italian wines ranging from red, white, rose to special blends, unique whiskeys, gin, beer and much more, and all of this is periodical updates to keep the assortment interesting.

On a difficult mission

DrinksNC contacted us about a complete rework of their presence in the digital space. We went through many rounds of design reviews and updates on the website before coming to a structure, logic and visual language that aligned with the look and feel we were going for.

Goals

The overall goal was to create and implement a digital communication strategy to build awareness of the DrinksNC brand on the local market and thus achieve the following:

- define and apply a unique and clear digital communication strategy that the differentiates the brand from competitors (mainly private label brands)
- build a strong community based on a loyal audience
- publish attractive content that engages
- influence sales

Challenges

The crucial challenge was to implement a digital platform that would allow us to reach the target audience (Males & Females, 20-45 years old, interested in quality alcoholic beverages, with a modern but casual lifestyle) by differentiating the DrinksNC brand in relation to more affordable competitor products.

Solution

At the time of our campaign, the market was populated with several competitors of whom the majority where private label (store brands) that held strong market share. Interestingly, none of these competitors offered handpicked products, something that is the core of the DrinksNC brand.

With this in mind, we wanted to ensure that the target group was introduced to this important attribute. Nevertheless, as consumers do not base their decisions solely on rational factors we decided to base our communication strategy on numerous triggers and emotional attributes that could aid in differentiating the brand.

In terms of advertising, up to then, the client had used adds in local newspapers and folders and indoor advertising as well a single POS activity. However, in terms of digital presence, there were minimal activities that would connect consumers with the brand apart from a weekly add in the local newspaper.

This led us to create a digital platform in May 2016 called "Gold membership DrinksNC" which was based on the idea that loyal costumers should be rewarded by focusing communication on loyalty and personal touch.

By using Email marketing, Google Display ads and Facebook advertising we started building Brand Awareness which led to a steady growth of our social media community. Regular and highly targeted post on Facebook inspired users to associate DrinksNC with an amazing assortment, good advice, and unique products.

The growing community proved to be highly inspired by this storytelling technique with increasing engagement and active participation in the quiz we published during the campaign. Fans shared their own experiences of products and as a result, they became even greater fans of the brand.

The purpose of the campaign was to move away from the classic sales orientated approach and ensure that DrinksNC is more than just a store selling bottles of alcohol but rather a link to an inspiring lifestyle than many would like to experience.

"I can recommend Remon de Vries as a reliable, competent and independent partner in design and web development area. During our cooperation, he showed a high level of competence and autonomy in large projects, as well as a high level of efficiency and attention to detail. In general, Remon did really great job."